Not actually in the middle of any projects, but there are always a couple a couple of wild hairs lurking on the edges of my nostrils.

Does anyone know who would make an aftermarket barrel for a Winchester 1894 takedown? How about for a centerfire, so probably "high wall", Winchester 1885?

I dont know if they actually make replacement barrels, but I would contact Turnbull Restorations. If anyone knows how to find barrels for lever guns, they ought to.

Try Homestead Parts.

Contacting Turnbull makes a lot of sense. If anyone would know the Winchester community, it oughtta be them.

Homestead is a real Alladin's Cave! I'd like the option of picking the chamberings for the barrels I'm after, but I certainly found a few goodies just flipping through the website.

Thanks for the heads up on Homestead. But $475 for an octagon M94 barrel? Yike!
No idea they were that expensive!

Well, there don't seem to be that many people making them.

You'll have to have a qualified gunsmith buy a barrel blank in the caliber you desire with the correct twist rate. He will then turn it down on a lathe for the correct outside dimensions, thread it and install it to your receiver, cut the extractor groove, headspace it and lastly do whatever else is necessary (cut the dovetails for the sights, etc). It's an involved process which is why the cost is so high. A barrel blank alone is roughly $250 IIRC. I've had a couple of rifles re-barreled and paid about $500 for the smithing for each one. Just google "manufacturers of barrel blanks" to give you an idea as to what's out there.

Thanks. That seems like a long way to go for a project, but I've gone a bit farther than that in the past. I can think of a few reasons why they don't, but I wish Winchester would order a few extra barrels from Miroku and make them available even if the rifle would have to be shipped to Winchester for installation.

Midwest Gun Works or "Winchester Bob" may have what you need for the 1894. C. Sharps Arms/Montana Armory will do barrel work on 1885s.

I had a multi-barrel 1894 takedown that was done by an old gunsmith friend of mine who specialized in Winchester levers. If I remember correctly, he used standard barrels and modified them for the takedown feature. I also remember him telling me that the tough part was getting the threaded takedown magazine and other takedown components.

That wouldn't necessarily be a problem. My thought was to convert a take down with a 20" barrel to the 7-30 Waters.

I have often wondered if the 7mm-08 (with tube friendly bullets) would make a very good lever gun.

I've always thought it sounded like a great cartridge, but assume (assume?) that tube-loaders would have problems extracting "rimless" cases. Something like an 1895 might work, and allow using any bullet that appeals.

The big thing with the 7-30 for me was that conversion should theoretically be pretty straightforward but the higher velocity and flatter trajectory available even with round-nosed (or polymer-tipped, if there's a .284 suitable for the purpose) bullet should make the rifle easier to shoot well.

quote:

I have often wondered if the 7mm-08 (with tube friendly bullets) would make a very good lever gun.

In the Browning BLR, it makes a great lever gun. (I'm not sure if Henry has offered it in their version yet.)